Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani has pledged to deepen collaboration on “counterterrorism” with China on his first visit to Beijing since the toppling of former President Bashar al-Assad last year.
Al-Shaibani and Chinese counterpart Wang Yi agreed on Monday that they would work together on combating “terrorism” and on security matters, with the top Syrian diplomat promising that Damascus would not allow its territory to be used for any actions against Chinese interests, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.
China, a former backer of al-Assad, said that it hoped Syria would take “effective measures” to fulfil its commitment, “thereby removing security obstacles to the stable development of China-Syria relations”, according to a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement.
The fate of the Uighur fighters who had gone to Syria after war erupted in 2011 to fight al-Assad’s forces, with many joining the Uighur-dominated Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) based in Idlib province, was expected to be on al-Shaibani’s agenda in Beijing.
A source from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates in Damascus denied a report by news agency AFP that cited unidentified sources as saying the Syrian government planned to hand over 400 fighters who had fled persecution in China “in batches”.
The “report regarding the Syrian government’s intention to hand over fighters to China is without foundation”, said the source in a brief statement to SANA.
During the meeting in Beijing, al-Shaibani also gave his country’s support for the one China principle, establishing formal diplomatic ties with the Chinese government, rather than with Taiwan, as the sole legal representative of the territory.
Wang, for his part, stated that China viewed the Golan Heights as Syrian territory. Israel occupied a portion of the territory in 1967 and subsequently annexed it in violation of international law.
Since al-Assad’s fall in December 2024, Israel has been expanding its occupation into southern Syria, including a United Nations-monitored buffer zone established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement.
On Monday, Damascus and Beijing expressed interest in expanding collaboration on economic development, Syria’s reconstruction, and raising living standards, highlighting the role of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum as a basis for bilateral collaboration, said SANA.
Al-Shaibani’s visit to China comes as Damascus pushes to rebuild its diplomatic ties around the world, with some stunning successes, including securing sanction relief from the West and major Gulf investments, giving the country a much-needed economic lifeline.
Earlier this month, President Ahmed al-Sharaa became the first-ever Syrian leader to visit the White House since the country’s independence in 1946. Syria also joined a US-led international coalition to fight ISIL (ISIS).
In October, al-Sharaa told Russia’s President Vladimir Putin during a visit to Moscow that he sought to “restore and redefine ties” between the two countries.
However, there was no mention after that meeting of whether Moscow would hand over al-Assad, who fled to Russia after his government fell due to an offensive by armed opposition groups led by al-Sharaa.
Since the collapse of the al-Assad government, Russia has retained a presence at its air and naval bases on the Syrian coast. Moscow was one of al-Assad’s top backers and provided air support for government forces during the war.
But al-Shraa’s government appears to be prepared to forge relations with allies of the former regime, as highlighted by al-Shaibani’s talks in Beijing on Monday.
